Light AT Halftrack
|upkeep = |prereq = None |production_struc = Panzer-Support Kommand |primary_weapon = 3.7 cm PaK 36 Anti-Tank Cannon |secondary_weapon = None |armor = Light |health = |speed = 6.5 m/s |num_abilities = 2 |abilities = Tread Breaker * Shoots a target vehicle's wheels, treads or engine, immobilizing it. * Costs to activate * Cooldown: 240 seconds Focused Firing * Maximizes the halftrack's accuracy while dramatically reducing its reloading speed and maximum movement speed. * Costs to activate * Duration: 30 seconds * Cooldown: 240 seconds }} The SdKfz 250/10 Light AT Halftrack, or Light AT Halftrack, is a Panzer Elite vehicle hunter featured in Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts. It is essentially little more than a light Anti-Tank gun mounted on a set of treads, but is an extremely useful unit for Panzer Elite assault and defense. The PaK 36 cannon can be temporarily used to "snipe" enemy units, stopping tanks cold or killing infantry with well-placed shots. Overview The final SdKfz 250 halftrack variant to become available to the Panzer Elite is usually the Light AT Halftrack. Light, fast, and most importantly accurate, this small vehicle can handle a wide variety of threats, from killing infantry to destroying enemy light and medium vehicles. A large pack of Light AT Halftracks can surround and destroy an M4 Sherman with surprising ease. The Light AT Halftrack is produced at the Panzer-Support Kommand structure, for , , . The Halftrack is a small elongated truck, with two front wheels and a set of treads at the back. The MG42 Light Machine Gun normally mounted at the top of the vehicle has been replaced with a 3.7 cm PaK 36 Anti-Tank cannon. Relatively cheap, these vehicles are often made in large quantities, and can operate alone or in groups. The Light AT Halftrack's cannon is only mildly powerful, but makes up for this with surprising accuracy: it will rarely miss a vehicle target during sight-range encounters, and can fire beyond sight-range as well. This allows it to quickly reduce enemy light vehicles to burning wrecks. Unfortunately, it lacks the front-armor Penetration to kill an enemy tank head-on, but will often be able to penetrate rear armor on most if not all vehicles. This vehicle relies greatly on two special abilities - one anti-vehicle, the other anti-infantry - both showcasing the amazing accuracy this little gun can employ. The first ability will knock the treads, wheels or engine off a vehicle, rendering it completely immobile. The second ability sacrifices speed to allow the Halftrack to snipe enemy infantry units with ease. Light AT Halftracks are very commonly used to defend Panzer Elite territory against various intruders. However it is also used in masses during attacks to surround and destroy enemy vehicles, or protect the flanks of the attack. It both cases it relies on superior mobility and versatility to tackle a wide range of targets. Weapons The Light AT Halftrack is armed with a single weapon: a 3.7 cm (37mm) PaK 36 Light Anti-Tank Gun. This weapon is useful against several types of targets. 3.7 cm PaK 36 Light Anti-Tank Gun This is a short, low-caliber cannon, firing shaped-charge armor-piercing warheads. Due to its size, it is by far not the most powerful Anti-Tank gun in the game, but makes up for this partially by having a high firing rate and reasonable accuracy for its size. Each shell fired by this cannon impacts with 25-30 points of damage. A single shell is fired every 2 seconds, making this one of the fastest Anti-Tank weapons in the game. This cannon also has excellent accuracy; it has 100% accuracy at ranges of less than 10 meters, 90% accuracy at ranges of 10+ meters, and 65% accuracy at ranges of 30+ meters. The maximum range of this weapon is 45 meters, 10 meters more than the normal sight-range. Penetration values for the weapon are not impressive, as only 1 of 10 shells will go through an M4 Sherman's front armor. However against rear armor the chance of penetration is significantly increased. Furthermore, the impact of each shell is increased by 50% when attacking American vehicles (though not British vehicles, for some reason). Abilities In normal combat, the Light AT Halftrack is useful primarily against other light vehicles, whose armor it can penetrate easily. But this vehicle's true brilliance appears through the use of its two manually-activated abilities. Though pricey, they can help it tackle all sorts of targets, protecting your territory or throwing the enemy into chaos during an attack. Tread Breaker * Costs * Activation: Select Enemy Vehicle (mobile) * Cooldown: 240 seconds When Tread Breaker is activated, select an enemy vehicle that is mobile (i.e. not a static emplaced gun or other similar "vehicle"). The Light AT Halftrack will move to within 42 meters of that vehicle, and then fire a single round at it. This shot has a 100% chance of penetrating the target vehicle's armor. The shot also has a 100% chance of causing one of two types of critical damage to the vehicle: either Immobilization (destruction of its wheels/treads) or a Destroyed Engine. If the vehicle is already Immobilized or its engine is already destroyed, the other effect will occur. As a result, the target vehicle will no longer be able to move, at least until it receives repair. This will often leave the vehicle stranded and unable to escape, making it easier to surround and destroy it, hit it with artillery, or simply continue attacking until it succumbs. Use this ability to stop an enemy vehicle advancing on your positions. You can also use it to prevent an enemy vehicle from escaping an attack. The best targets for this ability are vehicles that can only fire in a forward angle (like the Light AT Halftrack itself), since if they can't turn their chassis they can't attack enemies on their flanks or rear. Focused Firing * Costs * Activation: Immediate * Duration: 30 seconds * Cooldown: 240 seconds When '''Focused Firing is activated, the Light AT Halftrack immediately receives a +900% bonus to its accuracy. This makes it, quite literally, the most accurate weapon in the game, with a 100% chance of hitting any kind of target it fires at. Unfortunately, the vehicle pays for this with both firing speed and movement speed. Its reload times (the interval between each and every shell fired) are increased by 75%, from 2 seconds to 3.5 seconds. Additionally, movement speed is reduced by 45%, to a mere 3.5 m/s (just slightly faster than Infantry). The Focused Firing ability is an extremely useful method for increasing the chance to hit infantry units, otherwise 80% harder to hit with the PaK 36 than any other unit. While this ability is active, the Halftrack will snipe enemy infantry with ease. It will kill an infantryman with each hit it makes, regardless of the damage output. This is true also against infantry inside structures. It even has a real chance to hit infantry inside Slit Trenches, despite the massive accuracy penalty they inflict. Of course, since it renders the vehicle so much slower, it's always advised to use this ability defensively, otherwise it might prevent your Light AT Halftrack from escaping if a stronger enemy unit shows up. During an offensive move, it's often best to leave anti-infantry operations for anti-infantry units, and keep the Light AT Halftrack firing at enemy vehicles. Veterancy Like all other Panzer Elite units, the Light AT Halftrack can attain 3 levels of Veterancy, by accumulating experience points from the killing of enemy units. As it gains levels, its performance will increase proportionally. Accumulation Like all other Panzer Elite units, the Light AT Halftrack uses the Panzer Elite Shared Veterancy system to accumulate Veterancy points. In this system, units share experience from their kills with each other, within a certain radius. Each kill the Light AT Halftrack makes will grant it 100% of the experience value of the killed unit. In addition, it will pass 50% of that value to any Panzer Elite units within 35 meters of itself. Vicariously, the Light AT Halftrack receives 50% of the experience value of kills made by other Panzer Elite units within 35 meters. Bonuses Every time the Light AT Halftrack gains a level, you'll be asked to choose which Veterancy Upgrade you wish to apply to it - either a Defensive bonus or an Offensive bonus, but not both. You can choose a different bonus at each Veterancy level, if you want. The bonuses described below are specific to each level. Due to the way they are applied on top of each other, when computed together (see below) they may or may not add up as you may expect. When these bonuses are computed together with each other as well as the unit's basic statistics, the results at each level are as follows: * Click the button at the top-right corner to view the entire table. Selecting Veterancy bonuses for the Light AT Halftrack is tricky, because while the vehicle is fragile and could use Defensive bonuses, the Offensive bonuses increase the vehicle's usefulness in combat. Whatever you choose, like most other Panzer Elite vehicles, it's usually best to at least take the first level in Defensive Bonuses, because it has the most effect, and increases the vehicle's chance to reach higher veterancy levels alive. Beyond that, it is a matter of personal preference, depending on what kinds of uses this Light AT Halftrack unit should expect to serve. Tactics Tactics for the Light AT Halftrack are difficult to describe, because this unit does not have any straightforward function. The Light AT Halftrack can be useful in different ways and against different targets in different situations. In this sense, it is very similar to the Light Armored Car, another mid-range Panzer Elite attack vehicle. The Light AT Halftrack is primarily useful against enemy light vehicles, which it can easily dispatch. This makes it a great defensive unit against light vehicles used by the enemy for reconnaissance or raids into your territory: it can quickly respond, take out the offending vehicle, and relocate to wherever it's needed next. The Light AT Halftrack can also protect you against infantry, using its Focused Firing ability. However, due to the high Munitions cost of this ability, a Light Armored Car would be more suitable for confronting this type of intruder. More commonly, the Light AT Halftrack can serve as a versatile weapon protecting the flanks of a Panzer Elite advance. Driving on the sides of the main force, it can fend off enemy vehicles (particularly by immobilizing them with the Tread Breaker ability) or activate Focused Firing to kill infantry. If necessary, it can "fold in" from its flank position to increase the overall firepower being exerted by your attack force against the main enemy position. The Focused Firing ability is also extremely useful for dislodging infantry from buildings. It is exceptionally accurate, so within the 30 seconds in which it is active it can probably clear an entire building. Finally, when the enemy advances in full force against you, a Light AT Halftrack can immobilize the heaviest enemy units to remove them from the attack. While other enemy forces advance to meet your defenses, their heavy vehicles are left behind and can then be surrounded and destroyed by the AT Halftracks or other units not participating in the defense. You can therefore wipe out an enemy's entire advance, not letting any units escape. If you can manage to do this, a quick follow-up attack on the enemy will usually leave them unable to recover, possibly winning you the game. Weaknesses Unfortunately, like several other Panzer Elite Vehicles, the Light AT Halftrack is remarkably fragile. It can be damaged by any attack, including infantry small-arms (though these will take a while to destroy it). Most importantly, the halftrack can be taken out with one or two shots from a large Anti-Tank gun, so it should never come face-to-face with enemy emplacements or heavy units. If one is encountered, immobilize it and run away. Furthermore, anti-tank infantry can easily destroy a Light AT Halftrack if it manages to get close. Again, in such situations, fleeing is the only option. If you can kick into Focused Firing mode early enough, you might be able to take out the infantry first though. Historical Data Half-tracks were very common in the various Axis armed forces. They gave the German army a great mobility, which was important during its "Blitzkrieg" assaults on neighboring countries. Many halftracks were modified to suit different roles in the battlefield. The Light AT Halftrack was one such modification, achieved by replacing a halftrack's MG34 machine gun with a 37mm anti-tank gun. This gave the Panzer divisions a highly mobile tank destroyer. The 37mm gun is a pre-war Pak 36; it was a useless piece of equipment against tanks, but as time went by and the Germans actively upgraded their shells with tungsten-cored armor-piercing shells. Eventually, the shells were also upgraded with shaped-charged warheads, enabling the half-track to engage and destroy tanks. Even though it does not have the caliber to destroy enemy tanks quickly, a few of these units can halt an advance thanks to their gun crews' superior training. Reference At Wikipedia: *Pak 36 3.7cm gun *Sd.Kfz.250 half-track Quotes On unit selection: On unit creation: Gallery AT Halftrack 01.jpg|Light AT half-tracks attacking AT Halftrack 03.jpg|Half-tracks attacking on a different angle. Category:Panzer Elite Units Category:Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts Category:Vehicles